MSC Divina December 28 to January 7, 2024. B2B in the YC

[jean87510]

I do want to emphasize the food and service, other than the breakfast hiccup has been outstanding.  We both commented to our waiters that their genuine and friendly behavior was noticeable and appreciated.  For instance, on Royal where I am D+, the waiters always look scared they are making mistakes.   In the Muse the staff is really friendly and personable without it feeling like an act.  

[DaKahuna]

@jean87510 Thank you for the update.  I am very glad to hear things have improved over your first dining experience. It’s unfortunate but not a lot can be done about the weather with regard to the One Pool buffet.  Hopefully the weather will improve and give you lots of opportunities to experience the Sundeck and accompanying ammenities. 

[ConnieTact]

6 hours ago, jean87510 said:

Understood.  But I do believe in 2nd chances and as I stated earlier, if it happened again, I would address it. 

I do wonder though about the waiters in the section that you first sat in. It is them that need to have their lack of service addressed. If the manager isn’t told they cannot  do anything about it. Yes, if you give a second chance, that’s great if you end up sitting somewhere else but, the people sitting in the original place still have the inattentive waiters! 😅

I always feedback in a very friendly way with both positive and negative. 
Im enjoying your review so far! 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by ConnieTact

[jean87510]

Early morning Day 3 Roatan.  We checked the weather and saw 90% rain with 24 mph winds.  We do have a snorkeling excursion planned that so far is still on.

[raratonga]

Good Morning, Really enjoying your posts especially since we will be on the divina YC January 7 thru the 14.  One area where there is conflicting info is the dress at dinner at Muse for men. Some say shorts were seen at dinner. I understand shorts even dress shorts not allowed but is the collared shirt strictly enforced. My husband has some nice non collared shirts which he has worn in the retreat restaurant with no problem. Just wondering what kind of dress you haven experienced so far.

[jean87510]

5 hours ago, raratonga said:

Good Morning, Really enjoying your posts especially since we will be on the divina YC January 7 thru the 14.  One area where there is conflicting info is the dress at dinner at Muse for men. Some say shorts were seen at dinner. I understand shorts even dress shorts not allowed but is the collared shirt strictly enforced. My husband has some nice non collared shirts which he has worn in the retreat restaurant with no problem. Just wondering what kind of dress you haven experienced so far.

First night my husband wore a t shirt and jeans and we were fine.  Have noticed t-shirts and shorts at night.  

[raratonga]

Thanks 

[DaKahuna]

I cannot figure out what is so wrong with putting on a pair of long pants and a shirt with a collar for dinner in a restaurant.  Maybe I am just old fashioned. 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by DaKahuna

[jean87510]

We were able to go on our excursion with Roatan Getaway tours.  

We did have confusion with how to get towels and where to meet to leave ship.  The YC towel station was closed.  The concierge sent our butler with towels to our stateroom.  When we arrived at TSL, no signs or anything indicating what to do.  We did ask and a butler took us down.  On the way back up, we did see a butler but were sent by him to a regular line and then we just went to an elevator.  Not sure if this is normal.  We were never asked what our plans were by our butler.  We ordered pizza via room service and somone brought to our cabin.  We still have not had our refrigerator stocked with our drinks we want.  I have to go to TSL to get drinks for the day and coffee in the morning.  We just are not told anything important especially today's instructions or any offers for shows.  I don't even know where the theater is.  It's nice up here but we definitely are starting to feel ignored.  I just wish someone would at least give us a pillow menu, give us instructions for our tender tomorrow, ask us what our evening plans are... We see other's being given the white glove treatment and we just get pretty much ignored.  The staff is nice but don't really interact with us other than Le Muse.

 

We had a wonderful day snorkeling 3 reefs.  Even though weather was terrible.  Great company.  

[jean87510]

2 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

I cannot figure out what is so wrong with putting on a pair of long pants and a shirt with a collar for dinner in a restaurant.  Maybe I am just old fashioned. 

 

Husband was just too tired after the 5 hour wait inside the terminal.  I know what you mean though.  He looked great last night.

[raratonga]

10 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

I cannot figure out what is so wrong with putting on a pair of long pants and a shirt with a collar for dinner in a restaurant.  Maybe I am just old fashioned. 

 

 

[Mark_T]

15 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

I just wish someone would at least give us a pillow menu, give us instructions for our tender tomorrow, ask us what our evening plans are... We see other's being given the white glove treatment and we just get pretty much ignored.  The staff is nice but don't really interact with us other than Le Muse.

I'm just guessing here, so please don't be offended, but I wonder if you are inadvertently giving the impression that you are happy being left to your own devices?

 

Sometimes you do need to make the first move and if things are not happening automatically you may need to be more assertive and engage directly with your butler and his assistant if things are not happening as you want.

 

Fir us, the lack of a pillow menu would not have gone beyond the first evening and the failure to stock the fridge would not have gone beyond the following afternoon without polite escalation.

 

I'd say that if your butler was proving difficult to find, now would be a great time to have a chat with Pepe (YC Director) and let him know that your expectations were not being met...

 

This isn't something to just wait and hope it sorts itself out.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by Mark_T

[jean87510]

2 hours ago, Mark_T said:

I'm just guessing here, so please don't be offended, but I wonder if you are inadvertently giving the impression that you are happy being left to your own devices?

 

Sometimes you do need to make the first move and if things are not happening automatically you may need to be more assertive and engage directly with your butler and his assistant if things are not happening as you want.

 

Fir us, the lack of a pillow menu would not have gone beyond the first evening and the failure to stock the fridge would not have gone beyond the following afternoon without polite escalation.

 

I'd say that if your butler was proving difficult to find, now would be a great time to have a chat with Pepe (YC Director) and let him know that your expectations were not being met...

 

This isn't something to just wait and hope it sorts itself out.

 

 

 

 

We have asked since day 1 to empty and restock refrigerator.  4x with butler. One time with concierge.  Everything was resolved with the refrigerator tonight.  

[jean87510]

Evening Day 3.  On Day 1, I went to concierge and asked about how to go about making reservations for Specialty and a massage appointment.  The concierge told me to either call or go to either place.  I called the butcher's cut and made reservations for tonight and the 3rd for Galaxy.  Tonight we called before dinner to the concierge to ask that all drinks please be removed and replaced.  The woman asked what cabin I was and I let her know.  We then headed to Butcher's cut which did not have our reservation.  The Maitre'd there asked us why YC didn't book.  I said I was told to either call or go myself.  Unfortunately they were now completely booked for this cruise.  So luckily since we are on a b2b, they put us on Day 1 of our 2nd cruise.  So we headed up to Muse and had a great dinner.

 

When we got back to our cabin, the mini refrigerator was still not taken care of.  I went with my husband to the concierge to ask why.  They said you need to tell your butler.  I said I have been telling my butler.  I don't know what to do anymore. My husband also said although we did have a lovely dinner, we had a mistake with our specialty dining booking that was partially your fault because you told us to do it ourselves rather than help us.  He told them it was resolved by us but that he was not happy how they weren't interested in assisting us. 

 

Finally the assistant butler cleared out refrigerator.  I did talk to him and explained while we were very happy with a lot of things, and we are new to YC and MSC, we do know some of what we should get and we feel as if we are either ignored or brushed off.  I said we are low maintenance but if we ask for help with things, we do need help.  I then spoke to our main butler and said the same thing.  I think I did resolve what I wanted and I believe moving forward, all hopefully should be ok.  

[ConnieTact]

4 hours ago, jean87510 said:

Evening Day 3.  On Day 1, I went to concierge and asked about how to go about making reservations for Specialty and a massage appointment.  The concierge told me to either call or go to either place.  I called the butcher's cut and made reservations for tonight and the 3rd for Galaxy.  Tonight we called before dinner to the concierge to ask that all drinks please be removed and replaced.  The woman asked what cabin I was and I let her know.  We then headed to Butcher's cut which did not have our reservation.  The Maitre'd there asked us why YC didn't book.  I said I was told to either call or go myself.  Unfortunately they were now completely booked for this cruise.  So luckily since we are on a b2b, they put us on Day 1 of our 2nd cruise.  So we headed up to Muse and had a great dinner.

 

When we got back to our cabin, the mini refrigerator was still not taken care of.  I went with my husband to the concierge to ask why.  They said you need to tell your butler.  I said I have been telling my butler.  I don't know what to do anymore. My husband also said although we did have a lovely dinner, we had a mistake with our specialty dining booking that was partially your fault because you told us to do it ourselves rather than help us.  He told them it was resolved by us but that he was not happy how they weren't interested in assisting us. 

 

Finally the assistant butler cleared out refrigerator.  I did talk to him and explained while we were very happy with a lot of things, and we are new to YC and MSC, we do know some of what we should get and we feel as if we are either ignored or brushed off.  I said we are low maintenance but if we ask for help with things, we do need help.  I then spoke to our main butler and said the same thing.  I think I did resolve what I wanted and I believe moving forward, all hopefully should be ok.  

Wow, it sounds like you had to work really hard to get good service from butlers and concierge! I would escalate to YC director, just to feedback your experience so far. He should show interest and take notes and sort things for you. I’m sure as you missed out re Butchers Cut he will be able to swing something for this cruise rather than you wait for the next one. As you said, it is from their error not yours.
You’ve done well to spell it out to both butlers so, now hopefully, you can enjoy improved service. 

[jean87510]

2 hours ago, ConnieTact said:

Wow, it sounds like you had to work really hard to get good service from butlers and concierge! I would escalate to YC director, just to feedback your experience so far. He should show interest and take notes and sort things for you. I’m sure as you missed out re Butchers Cut he will be able to swing something for this cruise rather than you wait for the next one. As you said, it is from their error not yours.
You’ve done well to spell it out to both butlers so, now hopefully, you can enjoy improved service. 

Since we have very busy port days for the next 3 days, I may not get a chance to address with Pepe the YC CD quickly but I do plan to discuss with him.  Also we do change rooms on the 2nd sailing so maybe we will have a miracle.

[ConnieTact]

46 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

Since we have very busy port days for the next 3 days, I may not get a chance to address with Pepe the YC CD quickly but I do plan to discuss with him.  Also we do change rooms on the 2nd sailing so maybe we will have a miracle.

Great. May be worth just leaving Pepe a note to say you want to see him with feedback. My MSC miracles often happen after contacts such as this! 😅

Enjoy your cruise!

[momofmab]

I felt the same way as you on a recent YC cruise on a "Sea" class ship.  First timers as well and only saw our butler briefly on day 1, and then only in passing for the rest of the cruise.  He never asked our plans, informed us of events or escorted us anywhere.  We didn't even see him on the last day.  So he didn't get tipped (the assistant butler, in contrast, was very attentive and took great care of our room so he got double-tipped).  The concierge was also unable to help with reservations, which was perplexing because that's what they do.

 

Others will disagree but I don't think you should have to tell someone what their job is in order to receive expected services.  If the services of a butler and concierge are advertised when you book your cruise (and the availability of extras such as a pillow menu) then those things should be made obvious to you when you begin your cruise.  If I have to ask for things multiple times or have meetings with senior level staff then that's not a vacation I'm going to book again.  Additionally, there are many reviews on here that promote a level of service that is not necessarily a reality for all YC cruisers.  The "hit or miss" in the YC product is the Achilles Heel for MSC and in my opinion, will keep it from being on par with suite products on competing lines. Some are okay with that because the price point is less (but slowly creeping up), but I'd rather pay more and get the level of experience that I want without having to tell someone how to do their job.

[tony s]

12 hours ago, jean87510 said:

We have asked since day 1 to empty and restock refrigerator.  4x with butler. One time with concierge.  Everything was resolved with the refrigerator tonight.  

Ask for a change of butler. We had to do so and MUCH better after.

[jean87510]

Day 4, NYE plus Belize.

 

What a long day and it is not over.  Weather continues to be not great but at least not raining.  Did my usual am run before others started to join me.  Husband and I opted due to time to go to buffet.  It wasn't crowded and food was well buffet food!  It did the trick.  I did talk to my butler about the tender and he was helpful.  We got our snorkeling wet bags situated and headed to the TSL.  While we waited to be escorted, we received the news our excursion on Costa Maya was canceled by the vendor.  This was our second.  1st was Belize where we ended up scheduling Goff Caye at the last second.  We quickly contacted Hayhu Beach Club and luckily they had an opening for tomorrow in Costa Maya.  

 

We noted the time was getting short. One of the butlers brought us down.  We did have to wait a bit.  MSC really was pretty far from the port.  We rushed to our excursion but then were told the time was changed from 9am to 1030am.  Grrrrrr!  So we just people watched and waited.

 

We visited Goff’s Caye.  This is a great rustic place that has excellent snorkeling.  No wifi at all.  No showers.  We were there for 3 hours and snorkeled, ate and drank.  You could snorkel on your own or go with guides.  We opted of course to go on our own which, due to the waves and current, was pretty stupid where we went but it was an unbelievable reef.  We paid $40 for lunch and had large portions of jerk chicken for me and lobster tails for my husband.  Plus a lot of rum punch!

 

Very easy to get back on the tender.  We did skip the main line and went via the YC line.  Very nice!

[jean87510]

12 hours ago, momofmab said:

I felt the same way as you on a recent YC cruise on a "Sea" class ship.  First timers as well and only saw our butler briefly on day 1, and then only in passing for the rest of the cruise.  He never asked our plans, informed us of events or escorted us anywhere.  We didn't even see him on the last day.  So he didn't get tipped (the assistant butler, in contrast, was very attentive and took great care of our room so he got double-tipped).  The concierge was also unable to help with reservations, which was perplexing because that's what they do.

 

Others will disagree but I don't think you should have to tell someone what their job is in order to receive expected services.  If the services of a butler and concierge are advertised when you book your cruise (and the availability of extras such as a pillow menu) then those things should be made obvious to you when you begin your cruise.  If I have to ask for things multiple times or have meetings with senior level staff then that's not a vacation I'm going to book again.  Additionally, there are many reviews on here that promote a level of service that is not necessarily a reality for all YC cruisers.  The "hit or miss" in the YC product is the Achilles Heel for MSC and in my opinion, will keep it from being on par with suite products on competing lines. Some are okay with that because the price point is less (but slowly creeping up), but I'd rather pay more and get the level of experience that I want without having to tell someone how to do their job.

good points.  Thank you.

[jean87510]

Day 5 in Costa Maya!

 

Last night was NYE.  I must say all over the ship people looked fantastic!  MSC does an amazing job decorating for NYE.  We did a chic look rather than black tie look for dinner as we were tired from umpteen glasses of rum punch on Goff’s Caye.  Went to Le Muse.  Dinner was very good.  I am a very picky eater due to reactions to certain foods so I stick with beef, chicken and vegetables.  I don't like sauces at all on my food.  It's fascinating how the staff picked this up by day 3 and what dessert and bread I like.  I don't eat nuts, mushroom, or anything from ocean or fresh water.  I don't get anaphylaxis so I don't share normally because I can usually tell.  

After dinner, my husband was really tired so I went up to TSL to get some munchies.  Wow!  Sushi, fresh oysters, chocolates, tarts., mini pizzas.etc...  Which brings me to a question hopefully fellow YC cruisers can answer.  Where do you find a drink menu?  I keep asking and I don't think anyone understands me.  Is this something that doesn't exist?  I did ask for a mojito which they make a great one but I would love to try different drinks.  I can't find one anywhere.  Husband looked at app and couldn't either.  

So back to Costa Maya.  Since we completely crashed and missed NYE, we were up bright and early.  We ate at the buffet again as we wanted to head out.  We took the elevator ourselves and headed out for the .75 mile walk out of port to our driver for Hayhu.  This place is like an extension of YC.  NO vendors.  Great wifi.

Speaking of wifi, we have the upgraded premium and it's perfect.  Watch shows every am at gym when I work out.

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, jean87510 said:

Which brings me to a question hopefully fellow YC cruisers can answer.  Where do you find a drink menu?  I keep asking and I don't think anyone understands me.  Is this something that doesn't exist? 

In June '23, there were a small number of printed menus, usually at the bar, or a QR code to scan at the table.

 

 

[Cathy in Boston]

Found this for you.  Hopefully this is still valid:

 

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/617ac6f28abd337ac8fc5f75/t/62264424e0a64364affa6ab5/1646674982750/MSC+Divina+Main+Bar+Menu+2022.pdf

[George C]

On 12/30/2023 at 5:39 PM, DaKahuna said:

I cannot figure out what is so wrong with putting on a pair of long pants and a shirt with a collar for dinner in a restaurant.  Maybe I am just old fashioned. 

 

I went from wearing a tux to a sports jacket , now just dockers and shirt with collar .